Coma
by Stormofdragons
Summary: What happens when Asuka fails to awake from her Coma after the Angels are all gone.  Will she remain trapped within herself forever? A non-Third Impact Story... Starts at the beginning of EoE, and then goes AU... (with added Rei scenes and Author Notes)


Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is Owned by Gainax. Buy the DVD's of the Series and the Movies from them. I did, and it was worth every dime. I don't own anything except my DVD's, and this is done for my own satisfaction.  
  
In case you don't already know "this" is speech, 'this' is thought.  
  
Coma by StormofDragons  
  
"I'm so fucked up," a voice in the distance said.  
  
'Shinji?' Asuka Langley Soryu thought, awareness dawning in her mind.  
  
'Shinji, where am I? Why can't I see anything? Why can't I move?'  
  
Asuka tried not to panic. Then she couldn't open her eyes or even get her body to obey the simplest commands, and decided that a little panic might be a good thing.  
  
'Dear god, what's wrong with me? Where am I? And what is that Baka doing here?'  
  
She felt a slight pressure on her arm, as something brushed against her. Then a sensation began at her toes and worked it's way up her body, until it stopped just under her chin.  
  
"I'm sorry Asuka," Shinji said, "I only seem to keep doing things to hurt you. I'm so ashamed."  
  
'You should be you BAKA,' she thought furiously, 'I don't know how this happened, but I'm sure it's all your fault.'  
  
There was the sound of knocking somewhere in the distance.  
  
"Just a minute," Shinji called softly.  
  
'What's he doing?'  
  
'This is so infuriating. Did they drug me? What, what have they done to me?'  
  
"Is everything alright in here Pilot Ikari?" a new voice asked.  
  
"Yeah, I just shut the door so I could try to speak to her, but I guess she's too far gone," Shinji was saying in a trembling voice.  
  
"Not really," the other voice replied, "Medical convention tells us that people in comas, even deep ones, will often respond to a voice or a touch."  
  
"Really?" Shinji asked.  
  
"Oh, most definitely," the other voice said.  
  
"Then would it be okay if I came here to speak with her? I mean, just until she wakes up," he asked.  
  
"I think that would be of very nice of you Pilot Ikari."  
  
'Oh come on. Enough of this fawning "Pilot Ikari" crap, he's just Shinji, the Baka who lives with Misato and me.'  
  
"So, um, when am I allowed to visit her?"  
  
"Well normal hours are from ten to noon and one to three, but I think we can make an exception in this case. You can come as often and for as long as you like. I'll let security and the nurses know."  
  
'No. I don't want him to visit me. I'm going to come out of whatever this is in a day or two, and I don't want the first thing I see to be that Baka.'  
  
###  
  
(Six months later)  
  
"Groups 1a and 2a are the most active metals in the periodic table. 1a is composed of the Alkali metal family, except for hydrogen, and 2a is composed of the alkaline earth metal family," Shinji read.  
  
'Yes idiot, and then comes the transitional group, and then non-metal groups 3a, 4a, 5a, 6a, 7a, and lastly 8a. 6a are the Chalcogen's, 7a are the Halogen's, and 8a are the noble gases.'  
  
Shinji recited the information Asuka had just thought in her mind, almost word for word. She could hear him shift, and the book must have closed, because she could then hear the soft rustle of the pages.  
  
Shinji then repeated the information several times, the final time, much slower, as she heard his pencil scrape over the paper in his notebook.  
  
There was a squeak from the door, and a soft knock.  
  
"Yes," Shinji said.  
  
"Hello dear, just bringing the dinner cart around, and I was wondering if you'd had anything to eat yet."  
  
"Um, no I haven't. I was going to go home as soon as I finished my studies and make myself something."  
  
The woman with the cart was silent for a moment, and Asuka could sense that Shinji was shifting slightly in his chair as if he was uncomfortable.  
  
"Dear, how long have you been coming here?" the woman asked.  
  
"A... about six months?"  
  
"And how many times have you declined something to eat?"  
  
"Most of the time," Shinji admitted.  
  
"And how many times have you fallen asleep right there in that chair holding her hand."  
  
Shinji was silent.  
  
'WAY MORE THAN I WANT HIM TO! I'D RATHER HE DIDN'T TOUCH ME AGAIN!'  
  
"A lot," he said softly.  
  
"Then the least you can do is humor me, and take the food that I'm offering you. If you're going to stay here this much, you need to make sure you stay healthy for your young lady."  
  
"Oh, she's not my... my... my... young lady. She's just a friend."  
  
'Damn right, I'm not his young lady. And just what the hell are you thinking old woman? No way would I ever go out with an insensitive jerk like that."  
  
"Alright dear, if you say so. Here, have the chicken fettuccini. There's even steamed broccoli in it," the woman said.  
  
Asuka heard Shinji shift again, and assumed he'd taken whatever he was being offered. She could hear him clearing his textbook and papers off whatever table he was using.  
  
"So," the woman said, as a pop came from Shinji's direction, "any improvement?"  
  
"No, she's still comatose. They took the EEG off of her last week, since she hadn't shown any improvement. I was afraid that they'd take out the feeding tube, but Doctor Akagi said that that was happening over her dead body," Shinji said, stuffing his mouth with something that he slurped up.  
  
"Well I hope that if she ever wakes up, she appreciates what you're doing for her."  
  
"It's nothing," Shinji said.  
  
'Yeah, it's nothing. In fact it's damn annoying. He sits here day after day, doing his homework, talking to me, or watching some movie with the sound turned down, so he can describe everything that's going on.'  
  
'It wouldn't be so bad if he had better taste in movies. Although that old one he brought the other day sounded kinda cool. Jason and the Argonauts. He said the monsters in it were absolutely terrible, you could tell how fake they were.'  
  
"Well, make sure to tell the night nurse when, if, you leave."  
  
"Yes, Ma'am," Shinji said, and the squeak of wheels and metal on metal drifted into the distance.  
  
'Aw geez Shinji, why'd you have to take that plate. I can smell the chicken from here. It smells so good, and I haven't had anything real to eat in months. I hate you. I wish it were you here stuck in their body, and I was out there eating. What am I THINKING! If you were here instead of me, I wouldn't be hanging out here fawning all over you. I'd be out doing something, with someone, anyone. I sure as heck wouldn't be in the middle of a hospital ward full of sick people.'  
  
There was another pop from Shinji's direction, and she heard him get up and walk out of the room. He came back a few minutes later, and sat back down. She could hear him gathering up his things, and replacing them on the table.  
  
"Okay. Where was I," he said.  
  
'You were just about to leave you idiot,' she thought.  
  
"You know Asuka, if you could wake up right now, I'd really appreciate it. We've got a mid-term in Chemistry on Friday, and I don't know if I'll score very well. I've been studying and reviewing all this week, but no matter how much I study, I always seem to freeze up when it comes to the tests."  
  
'Ha. Too bad you're not a genius like me Shinji, I'd have no problem at all with those simple questions. I guess you're smart enough, but you just don't cut it in my world.'  
  
"Kensuke thinks that my problem is that I over prepare. I guess he might be right, but I just want to do my best, you know. Anyhow, back to the books," he said, and began to read aloud from the chemistry text book.  
  
'This is so boring. I already know all this. Couldn't you read a newspaper or something, anything other than a chemistry book that I could have written by the time I was eight.'  
  
Shinji kept studying for the next two hours, and Asuka drifted off somewhere in the middle. A soft pressure on her hand brought her around.  
  
"Goodnight Asuka. I'm going home now. Misato called, and told me something's happened, and she needs to speak to me right away. I'll talk to you tomorrow okay. Maybe you'll even feel like waking up to shout at me," he said, and gripped her hand firmly before leaving.  
  
'Goodnight Shinji,' she thought before she drifted back into the darkness.  
  
###  
  
(Eleven months later, seventeen months since Asuka slipped into a coma)  
  
The paper rustled in Shinji's hand. He must have turned the page. He wasn't reading out loud. In fact, he hadn't said a word since he'd arrived more than twenty minutes ago.  
  
'So. What are you reading, idiot? Normally I can't shut you up, but today you're being so quiet. What is it?'  
  
The paper folded again, and then crumpled a few times. It sounded like he was trying to flatten it out.  
  
"I thought that I'd bring a newspaper today. You'll want to hear this," he began. He cleared his throat, and ruffled the paper again.  
  
'Would you just start reading the damn paper already?' she cried in silence.  
  
"At 11:43 pm Greenwich Mean Time, Gendo Ikari, former Commander of NERV was executed via lethal injection in Beijing, China. Ikari had been found guilty of attempted Genocide, multiple counts of child abuse, Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Murder, and Lying to UN Investigators. A further 729 lesser charges remain on the books, but have not been filed, as Ikari had already been found guilty of the more serious charges."  
  
"As Former Commander of NERV, he was revealed to be manipulating things behind the scenes, and is even suspected in the incident which caused Second Impact. Our readers will recall the expose that we did nine months ago, revealing that the Second Impact was not caused by a meteor striking on the Antarctic Continent, but by the awakening of the first Angel, Adam."  
  
"Ikari's wife was killed in the course of researching the systems that would eventually lead to the Evangelions, and it is suspected by many that he is responsible for this, as well as the deaths of several other researchers in America and Germany."  
  
"Ikari was arrested when Assistant Director Kaozou Fuyutsuki surrendered himself to UN forces, on the condition of clemency, and turned over stunning evidence showing Ikari's role in the events preceding Second Impact, and indicating that he was planning to create a new 'Third Impact.' Fuyutsuki has since been placed in command of the former NERV installation, and is overseeing its decommissioning."  
  
"Adding to the charges, when UN investigators, guided by Fuyutsuki into the heart of NERV, attempted to arrest Ikari, he was found in the presence of an un-identified fifteen year old girl. The girl was naked, and investigators believe that, due to the severe emotionally detachment the girl suffers from, it is likely Ikari was molesting the child."  
  
'That'd be Wondergirl,' Asuka thought.  
  
"Ikari's execution marks the last in a series of executions brought about by the recent trials concerning the Evangelion Project. Chairman Keel, of the shadowy organization known as SEELE, is the only member of the group who was not facing a death sentence, agreeing to surrender documents implicating all the other members of the secret organization, and providing the final evidence to send Ikari to his death. Keel's death sentence was commuted to life in prison for his help in the case."  
  
"Ikari leaves behind a son, Shinji, who will shortly celebrate his 16th birthday. Shinji Ikari, as our readers will know, is the Pilot of Evangelion Unit 01, and, according to records is responsible for destroying more Angels single handedly than the other four pilots combined. The younger Ikari has not been seen in public for most of the last year and a half, only coming out of hiding on two occasions. The first time, when his father's verdict was read before the UN Tribunal, and the second time when the sentence was handed down."  
  
"Ikari is rumored to be a constant visitor and companion to comatose Pilot Asuka Langley Soryu, who is residing at an undisclosed location somewhere within Tokyo-3."  
  
The paper rustled softly, and the sound of it drifted away, as it was placed on the ground, she assumed.  
  
'So they killed the old bastard. Can't say I'm sorry to see him go. It was the least he deserved after what he tried to do to us,' Asuka thought.  
  
"It's kind of weird," Shinji said. "I mean, after all these years, he's gone. Really gone, and I don't know exactly how to feel. Part of me is just glad he's gone, but another part of me keeps asking 'what if.'"  
  
'Don't do that Shinji. I do that all the time, and it doesn't do me any good. What if I could talk, what if I could move, what if I could smack you in the back of the head,' Asuka thought.  
  
'The point is, there's no time in our lives for 'what if's. Only people like me get that luxury,' she thought morosely.  
  
Shinji stayed there, not really saying anything else the rest of the day, just stroking her hand. Occasionally he would stand up, and, using the techniques the nurses had shown him, massage her fingers, hands and arms, keeping at least some muscle tone in her immobile body.  
  
'Get over yourself,' she thought, 'you know the only reason you do this, is that you want to touch me you pervert.'  
  
"Shinji," came a voice from the area she associated with the doorway.  
  
"Commander Fuyutsuki, sir, please come in," Shinji said.  
  
'The Commander's here?' Asuka wondered.  
  
"How is she?" he asked.  
  
"The same sir. Occasionally they bring the EEG back in and hook her up. She's got some higher brain function, so she's not a complete vegetable, but the trauma of what that Angel did to her has caused her to shut down."  
  
'Not like he didn't already know that, Baka, I'm sure he's been getting regular reports on my condition.'  
  
"I see," Fuyutsuki said.  
  
There was silence in the room for several moments.  
  
'Well?' Asuka tried to urge them along.  
  
"Shinji, Major Katsuragi has requested permanent legal guardianship, as well as petitioning the court to proceed with adoption," Fuyutsuki said.  
  
"She did? I mean, she didn't say anything to me, sir," Shinji sounded stunned.  
  
"It seems that the decision rests in my hands. I am going to approve it, unless you request otherwise," Fuyutsuki said.  
  
"I have no problem with it," Shinji said.  
  
"Very well then. I'll handle the paperwork. One last question. Do you wish to adopt the name Katsuragi, or retain your family name?"  
  
"I'll stay Ikari. It wasn't my fathers name, it was hers. I'm proud to hold it," Shinji said.  
  
"I see. Good for you, son," Fuyutsuki said.  
  
"Here, I have something I've been keeping for you for some time. I know what he did, Shinji, and it wasn't right. I know Yui'd want you to have this," Fuyutsuki said.  
  
Asuka could hear Shinji take something from the older man, and heard his breath catch in his throat.  
  
"I'll go now. If you ever want to talk Shinji, my door will always be open to you. Goodbye," Fuyutsuki said, and Asuka could hear him turn and walk out of the room.  
  
Asuka could hear Shinji's breathing now, but it was heavy and wrong.  
  
'Well, Baka, what did he give you?' she tried to ask.  
  
"..."  
  
'Well? God, normally you won't shut up, now I actually want to hear from you, you don't say anything. What was it?' she stormed at him.  
  
"Asuka. Did I ever tell you that my father destroyed all the pictures of my mother? He even erased her pictures from the Gehirn and Project E databases. I never knew what she looked like, I mean, I sort of remembered, but I was so young when she died that the images just sort of faded away."  
  
'Yeah, you've mentioned that before. Why?'  
  
Shinji took a deep breath.  
  
"Commander Fuyutsuki just gave me a little photo album. There's not a lot, but there's several pictures of my mother in it. Here's a couple that look like her when she was at college. Ha, you'd never believe this one. Fuyutsuki didn't always have gray hair. And here's one taken when she was pregnant. She's positively glowing. And... and I guess that's me. She's holding me in her arms. She looks so happy Asuka, I really wish you could see her," Shinji said, and she could almost hear the smile in his voice.  
  
"I wish she could have met you," he said with a sigh. "I think she'd have liked you."  
  
'She sounds like a nice person, from what little I know of her Shinji. Too bad she ended up with a heartless bastard like your father for a husband. At least something good came out of it. She had you,' Asuka thought.  
  
Shinji didn't say much more that evening, just sat there next to her, occasionally commenting on some half forgotten memory of his mother, but mostly just sitting there quietly.  
  
She was still awake when he gently drifted off to sleep next to her. As his breathing settled into a soft steady rhythm, she was comforted by his presence, and allowed her own awareness to drift into the void where she existed now.  
  
###  
  
(Fourteen months later, Thirty-one months since Asuka slipped into a coma)  
  
"Michael looked down at Yuriko, and smiled. 'We have forever to enjoy it, my love,' he said. 'Do you Michael, do you really?' she asked. 'Do I what,' he teased. 'Do you love me?' she said, looking up at him. He wrapped her up in his arms, and drew her softly to him. 'With all my heart,' he said, capturing her lips in his, and proving to her just how much he cared," Shinji read.  
  
"Wow. That was great. I love romances," Shinji said.  
  
If Asuka could have sighed, she would have. 'Me too. That was a pretty good one. Lots of Angst. The hero never even told her he loved her until the end. And she was too proud to admit her own emotions. If only things like that happened in real life,' she thought.  
  
"So what do you want to hear next? I have some old Inu Yasha or Lain Manga's. I also have Record of Lodoss War, Chobits, Love Hina, and a few others," Shinji said, and Asuka could hear him flipping through the Manga he held. "Steel Angel Kurumi? What the heck is that doing in here? Kensuke must have left it when he dropped off my Martian Successor Nadesico Manga."  
  
'Oh, wow. Nadesico. Please Shinji, Nadesico. I love that one. It's so funny, the guy in it won't admit he's in love with the Captain, and she's a complete airhead, and little Ruri. She's the best one. Please Shinji, read that one,' Asuka silently begged.  
  
Some small bit of their sync training must have remained from the battle with the angel so long ago, because, driven by some unknown impulse, Shinji put down all the other Manga, and kept the Nadesico one out.  
  
He flipped it open, and, much to Asuka's delight, began to read from the book. Nearly an hour later, Shinji finished it, and placed it carefully in his bag.  
  
"Well Asuka, it's time for me to go. I need to get home and get some sleep. Sensei is giving us a test in Biology tomorrow. I think I remember everything from that piglet we dissected last week, but I need to have a good nights sleep before I take the test. Sleep well," he said, and she felt him grip her hand in his own.  
  
"You call that a goodbye Mister Ikari?" came a voice Asuka recognized as belonging to the head nurse.  
  
"Excuse me?" Shinji asked.  
  
"I asked if that's the best you could do. Most young men visiting their ladies in the hospital kiss them goodbye when they leave," the nurse said.  
  
"Oh, she's not my girlfriend. We're just friends," Shinji said, and she could hear him shifting his backpack.  
  
"Okay, if you say so," She said, as Shinji walked out of the room.  
  
'Yeah. He's not my boyfriend,' Asuka chided silently.  
  
The nurse closed the door, and came into the room then, and, judging by the small but firm movements, she was changing her bedding. As soon as she was done doing that, Asuka felt her begin to change her cloths.  
  
'God this is so humiliating, I still can't believe this is happening to me,' Asuka thought.  
  
"There we go honey, here, let me put a new shirt on you, there we go," the woman said, and Asuka could feel her buttoning up the shirt that she'd just placed on her.  
  
"That's some young man you've got there dear. He's come here every day since you were admitted. I wish my husband showed that kind of dedication to me. My Akito's a good man, but there's no way he compares to that Shinji Ikari. I guess you'd know though. He told us that you two used to live together. If he weren't so dedicated to you, I'd try to set him up with my daughter. Hell, some of the younger nurses here have commented on him," the woman said.  
  
'Oh please, spare me. Shinji's the biggest wimp I ever met, and he's not that great looking,' Asuka thought.  
  
"Phew, that was a bit of a workout. You don't mind if I sit down here do you? I knew you wouldn't."  
  
Asuka could hear the woman seat herself, and, even though she would have objected, she couldn't stop her. She felt the woman take her hand, and grip it firmly, massaging the muscles out of habit.  
  
"I hope that you do wake up for him one day, dear. I've never seen this kind of devotion from anyone before. And I work a lot of these cases. Most people give up within the first six months, and no one ever makes it more than a year. He's been coming here every day, come rain or shine, for two and a half years."  
  
'Two and a half... has it really been that long?' Asuka asked.  
  
"That's devotion, although I pray that its deserved. You know that Shinji has never said a single bad thing about you, but some of the others I've talked to have said some things. Oh, now its' not anything meant to be mean or spiteful, but you know how people confide to us nurses, we're better than bartenders. Lots of people come in here expecting to die, so they treat these rooms like confessionals."  
  
'And just what have they confessed to you, I wonder?' Asuka asked silently.  
  
"From what I hear you used to treat him pretty badly. I hear that you were a real strong willed girl, and, if what his friends say is true, that you used to yell at him quite a lot. His friend, Suzuhara even said that the first time that they met you, you slapped all of them. I don't know it that sounds like the beginning to every romance novel I've ever heard, or if it's just cruel."  
  
'They looked at my panties,' Asuka mentally gasped.  
  
"Anyway, it sounds like you were kind of full of yourself, but Shinji says you weren't so bad. I don't know who's view of you is more accurate, because it's pretty obvious that that boy has it bad for you. He won't say anything though, and none of us have bothered to ask. We figured that you should be the first person he tells that to. You know, he even told one of the girls that you were his first kiss. He said it was the most incredible thing that anyone's ever given him. Now that is romantic. That single thing is what gives most of us here hope."  
  
'It gives you hope?' Asuka asked.  
  
"See, we all want to believe in happy endings, and personally, I think that Shinji deserves a happy ending, after all he's been through. I just hope that you can give it to him, because I don't think he can take the disappointment that we usually see around here. He doesn't deserve it," the nurse said. Asuka felt her release her fingers, and heard the woman stand up.  
  
"You have a good nights sleep dear, I'll be back to check on you just before I go off duty tomorrow morning," The nurse said.  
  
'Ha. Shinji deserves a happy ending. What about me? Don't I deserve a happy ending? Shinji. Jeez. Shinji the Hero, everyone's favorite pilot. Like anyone needs to worry about him. No matter what he does he always comes out smelling like a rose.'  
  
'Still. Two and a half years. He's been here every day for two and a half years. Hmm.'  
  
'Now that I think about it, I guess that I didn't treat him very fairly. I was always calling him Baka, or Hentai, or worse. He only acted that way a couple times, really, and even then it was rarely even his fault. And he was a pretty good EVA pilot. He was brave when he needed to be, I just wish he could have been like that in real life, outside the cockpit. I could have fallen for him.'  
  
'WHAT AM I THINKING!'  
  
'He's a spineless little wimp who only cares about himself, and runs away at the first sign of trouble or rejection. He doesn't even have a backbone, and I certainly never would have fallen for him. Not with real men like Kaji around. I wonder why Kaji hasn't come to visit me. Now that would probably wake me from this damn coma or whatever it is.'  
  
She sighed inwardly.  
  
'A kiss from the man I love, waking me, just like in the fairytales. How wonderful that would be. I'm certainly never going to wake up with that Baka Shinji here, bothering me.'  
  
'Jeez. I bet if that idiot would just leave me alone for one day, I would come out of this coma. Instead, the Baka sits here day after day, talking to me, and distracting me from what I need to be doing so that I can wake up.'  
  
'Still. He is only trying to help. And it would be awfully lonely here without him. Aw, hell. I'm too tired to think clearly,' she thought as she drifted off again.  
  
###  
  
(Eleven months later, Forty-two months since Asuka slipped into a coma)  
  
Asuka drifted back awake within the darkness, and tried to analyze her surroundings, after so long trapped here, she had learned to interpret many things by soft sounds or touches. Someone had raised her up a little in her bed, probably Shinji, and there was a soft pressure on her right hand; again, probably Shinji. There was a regular soft sound on the right, which she associated with Shinji sleeping.  
  
'Mmm... Is it morning, or night I wonder? He stayed here all day yesterday, reading and talking. I know that school just let out, but he really should have taken some time for himself to get out and at least enjoy the sun. I've give anything to feel the sun on my face again.'  
  
There was a soft shuffling at the door, and Asuka could hear it open.  
  
"Yes, he's still here Ms. Katsuragi. Sound asleep, the dear," Asuka recognized that voice as belonging to the head nurse on the night shift. So it was either very late at night, or very early in the morning.  
  
"Thanks. We'll keep it quite," Misato was saying.  
  
"We'd appreciate it. The other patients are all asleep, and if it were for anyone else, we wouldn't allow it, but since it's for Shinji. Well, we all kind of have a soft place in our hearts for him."  
  
"Matches the soft spot in his head," someone else said. It took Asuka a moment to place the voice, but she suspected that it was Toji.  
  
There were the sounds of several people shuffling into the room, and then a soft squeak that was probably the table that she knew Shinji used for studying or reading. She heard a sharp clicking sound, and slowly the scent of something odd, something burning met her nose.  
  
'Something burning? What the hell? Shinji, you idiot, wake up, someone's trying to burn the place down?'  
  
Shinji clutched at her, and she heard a sharp intake of breath.  
  
"What's that? Fire?" Shinji said, snapping awake, blearily trying to figure out what was going on in his confusion.  
  
"Happy Birthday," several people whispered.  
  
"My birthday? Oh wow, you guys did this for me?" Shinji asked, trying to keep his voice down.  
  
"Actually, we had a surprise party for you at the apartment," said another voice, and Asuka was pleased to know that Hikari had come with the others. "But it's difficult to have a surprise party when the person who's supposed to get surprised never comes home."  
  
"I'm sorry, guys, I guess I fell asleep. I didn't mean to," Shinji apologized.  
  
"Yeah, Shinji, just like you didn't mean to the last four nights straight," Misato teased. "I knew by nine o'clock that you weren't going to make it, so we decided that we should reconvene the party here. It took us a while to get it all packed up, but we just made it. Now blow out your candles, and make your wish, before your birthday ends."  
  
She could hear Shinji shift in the chair, and, through his still clasped hand, could feel him lean forward.  
  
"I wish," he began, and then he inhaled deeply, and started blowing the candles out.  
  
The other people in the room all clapped, and congratulated him. Asuka figured that he must have gotten all the candles in one breath.  
  
"So what did you wish for Shinji?" Kensuke asked.  
  
There was an increase in pressure on Asuka's hand, that she was mildly surprised by, and she wondered if she knew what he'd wished for.  
  
"Sorry, Kensuke, if I tell you what I wished for, it won't come true," Shinji said.  
  
Another light pressure on her hand, and Asuka was sure. Shinji must have wished that she'd wake up. Not that that wasn't what they both wished for everyday, but it was nice to know that at least he was consistent.  
  
'Wasting your one birthday wish on me. How sweet,' she thought.  
  
She could hear the sounds of someone moving the table, and then a clinking sound. Someone must be cutting the cake, and putting it on plates.  
  
"Hikari, who baked this cake?" Shinji asked, with a slight nervous tremor in his voice.  
  
"Not to worry, Shinji, Misato had nothing to do with it."  
  
"Hey, is that a comment about my cooking," Misato said.  
  
Everyone laughed softly.  
  
"Yes, Misato, I just wanted to know if I need to ask the nurses station to bring in extra beds. We shouldn't need that though," Shinji said.  
  
Everyone laughed a little louder.  
  
"Hang on a minute," Shinji said, and Asuka felt him release her hand. She found that she missed the soft, familiar presence. Then there was a low hum, and a slight vibration, and she could feel herself being shifted into a more upright position.  
  
"There we go, that's better," Shinji said, returning his hand to its former task.  
  
The presence of her friends and Shinji's touch was comforting. Asuka had a wish too, even though it was his birthday, and it was a wish that was surprising even her.  
  
She could hear the clink of the plates and utensils, as the others ate their cake and ice-cream. Plain vanilla, from what she could gather. She missed the taste of food. All these months, lying here getter her food through a tube, and she'd have given anything for a single taste of cake and ice-cream.  
  
There were presents to unwrap then, and Shinji released her hand. From Hikari, a new cookbook, with exotic French dishes in it. From Kensuke, a book of cello music. Toji gave Shinji a few of his favorite Manga, which pleased Asuka because she'd soon be hearing him read to her.  
  
Misato's gift was the best of all, however.  
  
"Here," the woman said, and there was a slight jingle in the air.  
  
"Misato?" Shinji asked.  
  
"There's a brand new motorcycle in the garage, when you decide to come home. I figured it would be easier for you to take that, than bumming a ride here, or taking the bus every day."  
  
"But Misato. I don't know how to ride a motorcycle," Shinji protested.  
  
'Way to go Misato. Still, it was a nice idea,' Asuka thought.  
  
"I know that Shinji, but you can learn. It won't take you long, and you'll be zipping through traffic like a pro. Just be careful. I already have to come to the hospital to visit you both. I don't want to have to go to separate rooms."  
  
"Okay. I promise Misato," Shinji said.  
  
With the unwrapping completed, the party was winding down, and the others were ready to leave.  
  
"Coming home Shinji?" Misato asked.  
  
"I'm going to stay here tonight, I think. I'll come home in the morning to get cleaned up."  
  
"Okay, Shinji, goodnight," Misato said, and left.  
  
"Hikari?" Shinji asked, before she left the room.  
  
"Yeah, Shinji?"  
  
"Could you leave me a piece of cake and some ice-cream?"  
  
"Sure Shinji, still hungry?"  
  
"Yeah," Shinji said.  
  
'God he's such a horrible liar,' Asuka thought.  
  
"Thanks Hikari," Shinji said, and then they were alone.  
  
Shinji made some small movements, and Asuka could hear his utensils clanking. He must have been eating the cake and Ice-cream.  
  
'I hate him,' she thought.  
  
Shinji cleared his throat then, and she could hear the table moving.  
  
"Asuka, I hope you forgive me for this," he was saying.  
  
'Forgive you? Shinji, what are you doing?' Asuka tried to ask.  
  
There was a slight pressure on her lips, parting them, and for a moment Asuka's mind was a whirl of confusion.  
  
'Oh my god, he's taking advantage of my coma and he's...' but the thought dropped away as something unfamiliar, but unforgettable happened.  
  
Shinji deposited a small amount of mixed cake and ice-cream on Asuka's tongue, and gently closed her mouth. After a few moments he began to massage her throat, until her body reflexively swallowed.  
  
He repeated the action then, placing another spoonful of the treat on her tongue, before closing her mouth, and helping her to swallow.  
  
If Asuka could have cried she would have.  
  
'He's feeding me. He's feeding me cake and ice-cream. Oh god, I'm in heaven.'  
  
The brief vision of her as a doll, being fed by Shinji passed through her mind briefly. Once, she might have been angered by this, feeling as if he was treating her like some kind of child's toy, feeding her like this. Now, however, after more than three and a half years, she was grateful for this act.  
  
She was unsure how long he continued to feed her like this, but eventually he slowed, and stopped. Fetching a washcloth, to wipe her face with. He cleaned her face, pushing her hair off her face, and then gently smoothed the cloth over her neck. Finished with his task, he sat back down, and grasped Asuka's hand again. She heard him shift back in his chair, relaxing into it.  
  
"Goodnight Asuka," he said, drifting off to sleep.  
  
'Goodnight Shinji. And thank you,' she said, drifting off into the void, happier than she'd been in a very long time.  
  
###  
  
(Thirteen months later, fifty-five months since Asuka slipped into a coma)  
  
Asuka heard the door open, and the soft footsteps of Shinji's approach. There was a slight pressure on her right hand, and she heard a chair being dragged from its position to somewhere close to where she lay.  
  
With a sigh, Shinji sat down in the chair, never releasing her hand.  
  
"Good morning Asuka," he said, and she felt soft lips brush her fingers.  
  
'Good morning Anata-Baka,' she thought back.  
  
She waited for him to begin going on about nonsense like he usually did, but instead he was silent.  
  
'Well? What's wrong, why aren't you saying anything?' she tried to ask him.  
  
He took a deep breath, and then he began to speak, so softly she almost couldn't hear.  
  
"Misato found my acceptance letters last night. When I got home, she was waiting for me. We had a fight."  
  
He went silent again, and there was a shuddering intake of air, and she could hear the tears in his voice.  
  
'Shinji, don't cry; please, don't cry. You have no idea how much this hurts me. I can't stand to hear you like this," she thought as he started speaking.  
  
"She tried not to be, but she was so cruel. She told me that even the Doctors here had given up hope that you'd ever wake up, and I needed to go on with my life. Then I called her a bitch, and told her that she didn't know what it was like to really be in love, because if she'd really loved Kaji, she'd never have left him, and he would probably still be alive."  
  
'Oh man. That really wasn't a nice thing to say. How'd she take that?' Asuka thought.  
  
"She just sat there looking at me, stunned, shocked really, and then she burst into tears. I tried to apologize, but the damage was done. She threw me out. I planned to stay the night at Kensuke's, but she showed up a little after eleven, and took me back home."  
  
'Ah, she forgave you after that? I don't know if I could have.'  
  
He continued, "Well, she had packed my stuff, and said that I had a choice to make. She threw the five letters down in front of me, and told me I had to choose. She said she'd get Commander Fuyutsuki to withdraw my NERV pension, and leave me homeless and penniless on the street unless I chose a college, and actually attended."  
  
'Oh, good for her. You really should go to school. You're smart, not as smart as me, but still,' she thought.  
  
"She also said that they'd have you moved to a secure ward, and not allow me to visit you anymore So, faced with the choice between college, with some visitation, and no college, and no visitation, I chose college."  
  
'Ha. Misato can manipulate you so easily. She was probably bluffing you know. She loved to play with our heads when we were children,' Asuka thought.  
  
"Anyway, I had to decide which college to attend. I hadn't really thought too much about them, really, but she made me choose."  
  
'You should have done it a long time ago, anata baka," she thought.  
  
"It wasn't easy to choose, but when I looked at their backgrounds I decided that I'm going to go with the plan that we talked about earlier. I'm going to try and study pre-med, and see if I can get into one of the Coma Research programs that are going on. Who knows, maybe I can get you transferred there if I get accepted."  
  
'Oh, just because you want to play guinea pig, eh? Admit it, you just want to see me naked again,' she silently teased.  
  
"So, I'm going to go to the United States. Princeton. They have an excellent medical program, and I should have my MD within the next seven or eight years."  
  
'Princeton, wow, that's one of the best US colleges to attend. Very prestigious Shinji; I'm so happy for you. You'll really need to practice your English though. Yours is terrible.'  
  
"So, after I told Misato what I'd decided, she sat down and made a couple of phone calls. I thought I'd just go lie down, but my room was bare, except for a few boxes. I hope you don't mind, but I ended up sleeping in your bed. I didn't move anything; I just curled up in it. You know something. I could almost see you sleeping there beside me," he said.  
  
'Ecchi,' she thought at him, 'you are so perverted. You better not have done anything sick while you were there.'  
  
"Somewhere around 2:00am a messenger arrived. Misato came into the room and woke me up. Fuyutsuki had bought me a one-way ticket to the US, and was sending a Moving company for my things. They were all packed up and ready to go, before I left to come here. I hope you don't mind, but Misato let me take the red neck tie that you used to wear on your school uniform, as a keepsake."  
  
'No, I don't mind.'  
  
There was a soft step in the door, and Misato's soft voice called, "Shinji?"  
  
"Come on in Misato, I'm just finishing telling Asuka what's going on."  
  
"Okay, well hurry up."  
  
'What do you mean hurry?'  
  
"Anyhow Asuka, today's the last time I'm going to see you for about a year. Misato here said she'd try to stop by and talk to you every now and then. And Hikari said she would too, but she's pretty busy. You remember that she and Toji got married right? Well I just found out that she's expecting their first child. It should be born around my birthday, next June."  
  
"Shinji," Misato said, a not of impatience in her voice.  
  
"Just a minute more. Anyhow. I came here today to say goodbye. If what I've heard about the courses at Princeton are correct, I don't' think I'll be back until after classes let out in eight or nine months."  
  
'Wait. You're going to be gone for nine months? No way. You know Misato will never come to visit me, and Hikari is going to be way too swamped preparing for the new baby to stop by. Maybe you could call me every day, and let the nurses just put you on speakerphone so I can hear your voice. It won't be the same, but it's something.'  
  
"I'm not abandoning you, Asuka, I just can't do anything for you if I stay here. I'm useless. Maybe if I become a Doctor, I can come back with a cure for you. I promise you, I won't ever give up. I want you back. You can even yell at me all you want, and I'll think it's the greatest sound in the world."  
  
Asuka heard Misato's deep sighing breath.  
  
"Tell her goodbye Shinji, we have to go now, or we'll miss your flight."  
  
"Okay Misato. Can you leave us alone for a minute? I have something I want to say to Asuka in private," he said.  
  
"Okay Shinji, but just for a minute, then we really have to be going."  
  
Misato's steps faded, and Asuka heard the door close and lock.  
  
"I don't want to leave Asuka, but they're not giving me any choice. I'm going to do my best, and one day I'm going to find a way to bring you out of this coma. I promise you," he said.  
  
She felt her hands, both of them, being raised up, clasped gently in his, and then he kissed them, one at a time, tears falling on the back of them.  
  
"Asuka, before I go. I want to tell you something. Something I've never told you or anyone. I never had the courage too. I know you'd say something about me never having any courage, and you'd probably be right, most of the time."  
  
'Darn straight I would, you used to be such a wimpy little twerp,' she thought.  
  
"I'm not sure how to say it, so I'm just going to say it, and then leave. Don't get angry with me, just hear me out, okay?"  
  
Shinji took a deep breath, and she could hear him crying harder now.  
  
'Well? Hurry up, it's not like you have all day,' she thought.  
  
"I love you," he whispered into her ear, so softly that she almost missed it.  
  
'When did he move up so close to me?' she thought.  
  
His sobs wracked his body, and she could feel him release her hands, and wrap them around her body. He pulled her into him, hugging her fiercely.  
  
"I've never said those words to anyone before, not since I was a child anyway. And I never told anyone about my feelings for you," he shuddered, "and I wanted you to be the first. I've known I loved you since I rescued you from the volcano, but I could never say anything. You were too bitter, too unapproachable. I know now why you were like that. I hope you can forgive me. I don't mean to hurt you any more, but I couldn't leave without saying anything. If anything happens to me, and you were never to know how I really felt, I'd never be able to rest, and I'd hate myself for eternity."  
  
Asuka was stunned. 'You love me? You LOVE me? YOU LOVE ME? For goodness sake Shinji, why didn't you ever say anything before? I wish I could say something, anything, right now. Even a grunt would do. I wish I could cry. And now, after all this, you're leaving me?'  
  
'You're probably going to go to America, and some girl will look up into those storm-cloud eyes of yours and fall head over heals. And she'll be some ditzy blonde who won't care for you, and she'll use you, and you'll fall for her, and totally forget about me. And I'll be alone again.'  
  
"Goodbye Asuka. Be well. I'll be back as soon as I can," he said, releasing her and standing up to go.  
  
Misato opened the door, and Shinji glanced up at her, smiling as a tear escaped his eyes, and dripped down his face.  
  
"So. You finally told her," their former guardian said.  
  
"Told her?" Shinji tried and failed to pretend confusion.  
  
"That you love her," Misato said, not letting him dodge this one.  
  
"Yes," he sobbed, and Asuka could hear him run from the room.  
  
"He really does love you Asuka, but he's going to waste away if he stays here. He needs to live. I'll try to stop by every few weeks to make sure you're not too lonely. Goodbye," Misato said, stepping forward to kiss Asuka's cheek.  
  
'He loves me? And he's leaving?' Asuka was thinking in a furious little circle, these simple phrases repeating and repeating.  
  
Misato noticed teardrops streaking Asuka's cheeks, and pulled out s tissue to wipe them away. As she daubed at the moisture, she smiled sadly. Shinji must have kissed her goodbye too, and cried the whole time. Well, good for him. She stood up, looking down at Asuka, and smiled. Hmm.  
  
She'd missed a couple tears.  
  
She daubed at them again, smiling down at the comatose girl.  
  
The tears were still there.  
  
Misato was puzzled now, and she started to blot the tears again, when she realized these were not ones she'd missed, they were fresh tears. And they weren't hers. She looked into Asuka's eyes, and saw that they were opened a little more than she could remember them being, and they were brimming with un-spilt tears.  
  
Asuka was crying.  
  
Misato hit the emergency call button on the headboard.  
  
"Yes," came the voice of the duty nurse.  
  
"Get Ikari and a Doctor in here now," Misato shouted, using her command voice.  
  
'He left me. He loves me. That idiot. He loves me. How could he love me? I never did a single thing nice for him. I was always mean to him, but no. The idiot loves me. Anata Baka. He loves me. He loves ME,' Asuka's thought had changed slightly, but she had yet to notice that there had been a minor brightening in her vision. It was no longer completely dark, but a soft and blurry gray light was now filtering in.  
  
Suddenly there was more light, only it was all gray and cloudy for some reason. She could see something, feel something touching her face, and then light flashed before her eyes, first her right and then her left.  
  
Someone was holding her shoulders then, and a blurry face was directly before her.  
  
"Asuka? Asuka? Can you hear me? Can you see me? Give me a sign, here. Come on Asuka. Who am I?"  
  
She blinked, and her vision cleared a little, she fluttered her eyelids, and her vision cleared still more, the tears that had filled her eyes spilling down her face.  
  
"Shinji," she croaked softly, as his face swam into focus.  
  
"Get her some water," he said, and quickly offered her a straw to drink from.  
  
She sucked and the cool liquid slid into her mouth, down her parched and aching throat. Her tongue was dry and swollen, and she felt like her mouth didn't want to work right, but she could talk.  
  
She took a deep breath and released the straw.  
  
"Better? Do you need anything?" he asked, staying right in front of her.  
  
"I..." she began, and her eyes filled with tears again.  
  
She shook her head, and the movement felt stiff and jerky, her muscles unused to the movement.  
  
"I..." she began again, softly.  
  
"Here, have some more water," he said, offering her the straw again.  
  
She took it, sipped, gathered her energy, and spoke.  
  
"I need you Shinji," she gasped.  
  
Shinji's smile was brighter than anything she could ever remember seeing. Brighter and warmer than the most wonderful summers day.  
  
"I love you too," she finally was able to say, "please don't leave me."  
  
"I'll never leave you Asuka. I promise. I don't care what Misato and Fuyutsuki threaten me with, I'm not going anywhere. Alright?"  
  
She nodded, and heard Misato choke out the words, "Fuyutsuki and I wouldn't really leave you destitute Shinji you should know that. You can stay here with Asuka until she's fully recovered. Although we do expect you to attend college when you're able to."  
  
"I knew it. She WAS just bluffing," Asuka whispered.  
  
"What? You heard that?" Shinji pulled back, holding her at arms length, gazing into her face, looking from one eye to the other. "How much do you remember?"  
  
"Everything. Since the first time you came to visit me, and the nurse told you that people in a coma could hear you, and responded to touch. From then until today. And everything before that as well.  
  
"So you heard all of it," he said, slightly self-conscious, looking down, embarrassed, remembering all the things he'd said, and confessed to her over the years. "Four and a half years worth of conversation."  
  
"Yeah. You kind of ramble on, did you know that?"  
  
Shinji blushed, and the first smile to touch her lips in more than four years brightened the room.  
  
"I just want one thing, right now, though, if that's alright?" she said, softly.  
  
"Anything," he answered, meeting her gaze again.  
  
"Say it again."  
  
He looked confused for a moment, and then, when Misato laid her hand on his shoulder, he realized what she meant.  
  
"I love you, Asuka."  
  
"I love you too, Shinji."  
  
The end  
  
###  
  
Epilogue  
  
"It's nice that you're finally leaving the hospital Asuka. Hikari can't wait to throw you a welcome home party. Although she'd better hurry cause she's gonna pop any day now," Toji said.  
  
"So you really don't know what you're having?" she asked.  
  
"Nope. They offered to tell us, but Hikari and I both wanted it to be a surprise."  
  
She looked at his left arm, on the back of her wheelchair.  
  
"Does it feel real?"  
  
"Yeah, you can't tell the difference. The new limb and organ replacement techniques that Ritsuko developed are incredible. After a four hour surgery to prepare the skin, the new stem cell grafts are installed, and the limb just kinda pops into place. Good as new. I could even wiggle my fingers after a few minutes."  
  
"That's amazing."  
  
"Well, it's all thanks to the research she did while with NERV. Of course, since the data was still highly classified it took her a couple years to get clearance to begin the experiments, and I was one of the first human test subjects, but it should be available for general use sometime this year. I understand that the Americans and Canadians are already doing human trials as well. Here we are," he said, pushing her through the front doors of the hospital.  
  
Shinji's car, a BMW SUV, was parked right in front of her, and he was standing there holding the doors open.  
  
"She's all yours Shinji," Toji said, stopping the wheelchair, and locking the brakes.  
  
Asuka stood up. "Really, I don't know why hospitals make you leave in a wheelchair. What? Do they think that if someone actually sees a healthy person walk out of the hospital they won't think they're doing their jobs?"  
  
"Asuka, get in the damn car," Shinji said, as Toji took the wheelchair back inside, and gave it to an Orderly.  
  
She smiled at him, and got in.  
  
He walked around and got into the drivers side, and waited until Toji came back before starting the car and pulling out onto the road. Six hours later they were pulling into the driveway of the new house in Kyoto, having already dropped Toji off at his house.  
  
"So why Kyoto?" she asked.  
  
"Well, the University here has a good Medical School, and Ritsuko's research lab is here as well. She said that once I finish Med School, she'd let me do my internship at the lab. In the meantime, I can work in a less important part of the lab, doing data processing "  
  
"So school and a job, all in one place. How clever."  
  
"I thought so," he said, getting out of the car, and walking around to open her door.  
  
She got out, and followed him as he led her up to the front door. He put the key in the lock, and opened it, holding it open for her.  
  
"Welcome home Asuka," he said.  
  
She walked through the door, and into the house she would share with Shinji.  
  
"Anywhere you are is my home, Shinji," she said, smiling at him.  
  
Author Note: In response to several criticisms that REI was treated badly, here's what you would have seen.  
  
OMAKE  
  
a cut from the scene between Fuyutsuki and Shinji  
  
"Sir, what about Rei? I mean, I know she's living with you now, but is she going to be alright?"  
  
'Oh wonderful! I have to lay here and listen to him pine over wondergirl. That's just what I need. Thanks a lot Shinji,' Asuka thought.  
  
"I'm taking care of her Shinji. I hope that I can make up for not paying much attention to her before. She's like the daughter I always wanted. She'll be fine," Fuyutsuki said.  
  
"Okay," Shinji said.  
  
"Was there something else?"  
  
"No. Just... Well... That is... Sir, was my father really..." he stammered.  
  
"No Shinji, Gendo was not abusing Rei. At least not in the way implied. It's far to complicated to explain, but when he was arrested, he was in the Reiquarium. The place where we kept the clones. Rei was evidently there doing something, and he came to check on her. He wasn't doing anything... untoward. The papers got that one wrong," Fuyutsuki said.  
  
"Oh, Okay... thank you sir," Shinji said.  
  
###  
  
Author: There, happy? I figured most of you would recognize the naked Rei scene from EoE, but no-one did, so I wrote this to solve that. Can the flames please stop now? Reifans: NO! Shinji and REI forever. Author: (gives Shinji Unit 01 in Berserk mode) Sic em boy! UNIT-01 RAAAAAA! Reifans: EEEEEEK! AARGH! UNIT-01 Gulp Author: Now that that's taken care of, anyone else have anything to say? S/Afanboys: Yeah, a Lemon scene for Shinji and Asuka would be great. Author: . Author: Author: I'll get back to you. S/Afanboys: YAY! 


End file.
